Vitamin E Archives | Natural Health with Merrilyn Hope

Varicose Veins Treatments

Techniques which improve the circulation are the most important of Varicose Veins Treatments.

You can look at merrilyn’s posts entitled ‘Causes of Varicose Veins’ and ‘Yoga for Varicose Veins’ for more information on how to improve the condition of varicose veins.

Here are some more ideas for varicose veins treatments which have not been covered fully in the other posts.

Hydrotherapy: The Foot Bath: The simple foot bath can be done at home at any time to help relieve aching varicose veins. The foot bath on its own will improve the circulation, and help to reduce swelling and pain, but we can enhance the therapeutic action by adding certain herbs and spices.

Try and do this hydrotherapy treatment once a day, or twice if your condition is very bad.

Get two large bowls or buckets, big enough for your feet to sit in comfortably, and more. Half fill one of the containers with cold water. Half fill the other with hot water which is at a comfortable bathing temperature.

Add half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and half a teaspoon of ginger to the bowl of hot water. Cayenne pepper is very good for improving varicose veins, as it helps to shrink them and reduce pain. Both ginger and cayenne pepper boost the circulation.

Begin with the feet in the cold water. Leave for half a minute, then transfer the feet into the warm-to-hot water. Leave in the hot water for a minute. Put the feet back into the cold water bucket for another minute, then return to the spiced-up hot water. You may need to add a touch of boiling water to the hot water bucket after a few minutes. Be careful to add just enough boiling water to heat up the water to a comfortable heat again. Do not have the water too hot, as this will harm your legs and possibly burn you.

Finish the hydrotherapy off with the feet soaking in the warm-to-hot water.

You can experiment using other herbs and spices in this footbath treatment. Herbs and spices which increase circulation are the ones to use here. I would use cayenne pepper in combination with either cinnamon, or ginger, turmeric, or cloves.

Note on Varicose Veins Water Temperature: VERY HOT water should never be applied to the varicose veins. Hot baths are best avoided. If you are taking a bath, then the bath water should be only warm to medium hot. Showers are considered best for people who have prominent or painful varicose veins, as showers do not prolong heat to the legs.

Massage to Soothe Veins: After the foot bath treatment, massage the legs gently with almond oil which has a few drops of rosemary oil added to it. This will soothe the veins, but also help circulation.

Cold Herbal Compress for Painful/Swollen Varicose Veins: Make up an infusion using healing herbs. You can use either comfrey, or borage, marigold flowers, chamomile flowers, witch hazel flowers, or use a combination if you like. Take up to half a cup of the fresh herbs. Put into a pot and add two cups of boiling water. Put on the lid. Leave on the stove to gently simmer for just one minute. Take off the heat, and leave to cool.

Soak a piece of white linen or cotton in the cold liquid. Wring out the cloth and apply it to the sore or swollen varicose vein. Put on a piece of plastic, and wrap lightly with a bandage. Leave the leg up for 20 minutes while you let the compress do its work. Take off. Repeat throughout the day as necessary. You can keep the mixture to dampen the cloth again before each application. Make up a fresh herbal mixture each day for use as compresses.

Drink Silica-rich Teas to help strengthen the veins and heal them from the inside. Silica-rich teas are those made with oat-straw, comfrey, borage, nettles, horsetail, chamomile and rosemary. Drinking plenty of herbal teas such as these will not only provide you with silica and other nutrients, but also cleanse the kidneys, improve your hair growth, and help the intestinal functions.

Homeopathic Hamamelis is considered to be one of the best remedies for healing the veins. Witch Hazel is made from the same plant. You can use Witch Hazel externally on the legs, and take the Homeopathic equivalentof Hamamelis internally. Just three or four drops of Hamamelis 30x, three times a day until relief is felt.

Vitamin C and Vitamin E are also great supplements for helping to relieve varicose veins.

Vitamin C Dosage: Between 1000mg to 3000mg of Vitamin C, preferable a non-acidic type, could be taken until better. Calcium Ascorbate or Ester C are good ones to go for.

Vitamin E Dosage :Take the standard dose as stated on the bottle for Vitamin E – best not to give large doses of Vitamin E.

Castor Oil: To clear the liver, gall bladder and bowels, use castor oil once a week as a remedial measure for the veins. Congestion in the digestive system, over time, will lead to the veins becoming distended. So to prevent varicose veins from forming, take 2 tbsps of castor oil in the morning, once a week.

For serious conditions, you could follow the Gerson programme, which uses castor oil every second day. Gerson used this method to cure cancers, mainly, but he insists it will cure any disease if his recommendations are followed to the letter.

Dietary Iron

FACTS ABOUT IRON
Iron is important for the production of red blood cells which prevent anaemia.
Women need more Iron than men, mainly because of blood loss during menstruation.
The recommended daily allowance for women is 12 mg, whereas men’s is 10 mg daily.
Iron is best gained from the foods you eat. A good diet should supply all the necessary vitamins and minerals which
your body requires.
Unless you have a serious condition which would benefit from supplements, then supplements of Iron
should generally be avoided. Iron supplements can be problematic: With some people they can have a constipating effect.
There is a danger too, with iron supplements, that you might over-do your iron intake, which is all the more reason
to avoid them if you can.

Expectant mothers’ digestive systems adapt so that they absorb almost double the iron content in food compared to that absorbed from dietary intake before pregnancy, or after the birth. This is because mothers-to-be are storing up the iron to build a strong baby. Extra iron is also needed by the mother to counteract blood loss during the birth, and to sustain the mother while she recuperates from the birth.

The absorption of iron is aided by Vitamin C, and also Vitamin E.
Just 25 milligrams of Vitamin C, taken at meals, can increase absorption of Iron from 10% to 20% of the available Iron in your food. Hence eating fruit after a meal helps maximise the Iron content in your food.
High Vitamin C foods like broccoli also help you to assimilate the Iron in foods like meat, eggs, and broccoli itself.

Iron also helps our bodies to utilize protein, and it has a role to play in muscle building.
It provides energy to muscles which helps to build muscle tissue. When the blood is deficient in Iron, not enough
energy is carried to the muscles, and consequently, you become fatigued.
Lack of Vitamin B6 and Zinc, which also help regulate the amount of iron in the blood, can also cause a condition of
fatigue which is sometimes mistaken for anaemia.

Not enough Iron can cause anaemia, fatigue, itchy skin, poor brain function and slow growth rate in children.
Iron affects the brain profoundly – if your memory is bad and your ability to concentrate weakened, then look to iron
and Vitamin B6 for a remedy. Eat some fruit after every meal to improve iron assimilation.
A booster of these supplements, and good dietary practices, could quickly improve your mental function.

The Dangers of too much iron:
Iron is stored in the body, so beware of taking Iron supplements for too long.
Long-term iron supplementation, which leads to excess iron levels in the blood, can damage your liver, pancreas, kidneys and heart.
Elderly people often get a surplus of Iron in the blood because of tonics and tablet
supplements which have been taken over a period of time. This can cause distressing symptoms, like bone pain, and
mental anguish. It could be that arthritic-like conditions which many older people suffer might improve with less iron
supplementation and more zinc, B6 and Vitamin C given instead.
Arthritics often have an excess of iron in the blood. This could be because of medications they are taking, which,
like the contraceptive pill, could cause excess iron to be stored in the blood.
It really is best to rely on foods to supply you with adequate iron: this way, iron excess is unlikely to occur.

The contraceptive pill, which often mimicks the conditions of pregnancy, raises Iron levels. This can cause depression
and cause schizophrenic-like behaviour. It is possible that some women’s bodies do not adjust their iron intake so
well after giving birth, giving rise to what is known as ‘post-natal depression’. This could be because of drugs given
during the birth, or during pregnancy, or because the contraceptive pill has been introduced, or some other factor:
any of these things can interfere with the body’s normal regulatory processes for assimilating iron.

Extra zinc is the remedy. Taking adequate Zinc ensures that you do not build up an excess of Iron.
Ideally, you would avoid all potentially harmful drugs and medications, unless they are absolutely necessary, to ensure that your capacity to absorb vitamins and minerals is not undermined.

IRON SOURCES: Most of these figures are taken from David Coory’s book ‘New Zealand Nutrition and Your Health’, 1988, David Coory Publishing, 33 Balmoral Terrace, Tauranga, New Zealand.

RDA for women 12 mg, Men 10 mg.
500 mls of stout or Guinness beer – 10-20 mg
One cup prune juice – 10.5 mg
3/4 cup cooked prunes -3.0 mg
One tbsp of molasses or treacle – 3.0 mg
Two tbsp wheat germ – 2.0 mg
One tbsp Brewer’s Yeast – 1.5 mg
One egg – 1.25 mg
1 cup milk – 1.0 mg
1/4 raisins – 1.5 mg
One cup apple or orange juice – 1.5 mg
One nectarine or banana – 1.0 mg
One cup of either rockmelon or watermelon – 1.0 mg
One slice of wholemeal bread – 1.0 mg (White bread contains less than a quarter of this amount)
One tbsp of cocoa powder – 2.0 mg
1/2 cup wholemeal flour – 2.0 mg
One plate of oatmeal porridge – 1.5 mg
1/3 cup peanuts – cooked or raw – 1.0 mg
100 gms liver – 10.0 mg
100 gms oysters – 8.0 mg
100 gms beef – 3.0 mg
100 gms free range chicken – 2.0 mg
100 gms free range pork – 2.0 mg
100 gms lamb – 1.5 mg
100 gms fish – 1.0 mg
3/4 cup baked beans or haricot beans – 3.5 mg
1/2 cup spinach – 3.0 mg
3/4 cup peas 2.5 mg
1/2 cup silverbeet – 2.5 mg
One cup brussels sprouts – 2.0 mg
3/4 cup pumpkin 1.5 mg
Two tomatoes – 1.5 mg
Onae cup of cauliflower or broccoli – 1.0 mg
One kumara with skin on – 1.0 mg
One medium potato with skin on – 1.0 mg
3/4 cup sweet corn – 1.0 mg
One large mushroom – .25 mg

Healing Broken Capillaries on the Face

Broken veins on the face take a time to heal. They take time to arrive, generally, and they take time to heal. Healing broken capillaries requires an all-out wholistic approach.

Avoid Alcohol and Cigarettes. First of all, it is important to cut out those gin and tonics, indeed, all alcohol, and smoking. These are probably the worst things for the veins.

It is very important to lower the blood pressure if it is at all high. Alcohol, smoking, and of course, toxic chemicals in the form of insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers and petro-chemicals all have a deleterious effect on the health, including the veins and small capillaries.

Even some medications, taken on a regular basis, can cause a break-down in the small capillaries. A common example is simple aspirin. People often take this to thin the blood in order to hopefully prevent strokes. But this can cause internal bleeding and a seeping of the blood in the small veins which shows up as “broken veins”. If you take aspirin or its counterpart, you most probably have already noticed that wee red spots show up on the tender skin of the upper belly. This is an indication of the bleeding which is going on through the capillaries as a result of taking this type of medication. These go away, in time, if the aspirin-for-stroke treatment is discontinued.

Keep the Diet Alkaline

An alkaline diet is important in healing any disease. High fiber greens such as cooked broccoli, and lettuce and sprouts in salads, apples, bananas, are all good foods to help your health. Eat good quality oils such as avocado oil, grapeseed oil, wheatgerm oil, to get adequate vitamin E to help with the healing of the broken capilliaries. Eat adequate protein: fish is an especially good healing food.

Do go and talk to a naturopath or homeopath (or your doctor) to see about alternatives and if it is safe for you to discontinue with your medication.

Hints for healing and to remove broken capillaries:

Avoid alcohol, tobacco, toxic chemicals, make-up, and medication (if your health professional advises it is safe to do this)

Take an active role in stabilizing your blood pressure it it is high. More greens, more fruit, enough good quality protein each day. Avoid sugar, cut down on coffee. Avoid dairy products except for butter. Cut down on bread: Instead, use more brown rice in the diet.

Vitamin E Supplement Take the maximum dose of vitamin E which is very helpful in strengthening the walls of the veins and capillaries. (But do not take vitamin E if you are taking blood thinners such as warfarin)

Vitamin C/Ester C Take 1000 mg of vitamin C morning and night. This also helps remove toxins in the veins, and aids in their healing.

Cayenne Pepper Use cayenne pepper daily. Just a small amount on your food will give you the benefit of an improved circulation. You can put a little cayenne pepper in your shoes to get the same effect. Cayenne pepper, because it improves the circulation in the larger blood vessels, helps reduce the small broken capillaries on the face.

Use comfrey leaves – boil up a couple in a cup of water until they have become very soft. Let them cool, then mush up and apply over the face before bed. Leave on the face for 5 minutes. Put the remainder in the fridge to use over the next 2 or 3 days. If you can’t obtain comfrey, then you could use cut cucumber to lay over the cheeks for five minutes. Yoghurt smeared on the skin is another food which helps to aid healing.

During the day, use apple cider vinegar which is high in potassium and vitamins to dab onto the skin several times a day. This combines well with the comfrey or yoghurt treatment.

You could try the herbal/homeopathic Weleda brand of cosmetics. These are truly petro-chemical free and are totally organic.